OCPA Research Reviews
Food Grade Corn and Grain Drying/Storage Research Program
Ken Hough, Director, Research and Market Development

• Through industry consultation, determine the specific needs of food corn processors, and opportunities for market growth within the snack food/alkaline cooking/dry milling industries.
• Identify the key areas in the corn production system where improvements in grain quality may be achieved.
• Facilitate communications among all industry partners (seed corn companies, processors, producers) on corn quality objectives (i.e. product development, availability and utilization and production opportunities and requirements).
• Focus research projects on the highest priority and most cost-effective objectives to improve corn quality for the food-grade/dry-milling sector.

Highlights of the 1997/98 achievements include:

• Extensive consultations were conducted with contacts in both the Ontario and U.S. food corn sector, encompassing seed corn companies, public researchers, identity-preserved and/or contract grain marketers, corn processors and growers. A much clearer understanding has been achieved of the specific grain quality traits required for each of the food-grade corn processors/sectors, methods of assessing these traits, and production and drying, storage and handling factors that can impair quality.
• Gaps in research and industry needs for Ontario have been identified, along with an action plan developed to address the problems. An interdisciplinary, multi-institution, research-management team has been established to assure coordinated progress on project objectives, and ensure against duplication of effort.
• About 30 commercial hybrids were evaluated at three locations (two harvested, one lost to drought) in southwestern Ontario in 1998 for their agronomic potential, food quality traits and susceptibility to Kernel Red Streak (KRS). Some of the yellow hybrids – as well as one of the white hybrids tested – demonstrated excellent yield potential and red streak tolerance. Although several others yielded significantly more than average, red streak was unacceptably high. Conversely, several with excellent red streak tolerance had poorer yields. Grain quality analyses are being conducted by the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Eastern Cereals and Oilseeds Research Centre (ECORC) grain quality laboratory. This first year of field results is encouraging, and further evaluation will be conducted.
• The early maturity white corn performance test, consisting of 33 white food grade hybrids and two yellow ‘check’ hybrids, was conducted at Ridgetown, in collaboration with 11 U.S. locations. Grain quality analyses were conducted by the Illinois Crop Improvement Association grain quality lab, and cross-reference testing by the ECORC lab will be completed. Again, 1998 field results are encouraging with the Ontario test ranking third overall for yield. Quality results for the Ridgetown test were similar to U.S. results. However, the 1998 season in Ontario was characterized by unusually high heat unit accumulation, and further testing will be needed to see if the encouraging results in 1998 can be achieved consistently.
• Food grade germplasm (inbreds, populations) was assembled from several sources and along with some University of Guelph corn breeding lines, were evaluated for agronomic adaptability, food grade characteristics, Fusarium resistance and potential for KRS. Some of this new germplasm was shown to be unsuitable for further development, but other material shows promise. Selections were made in 1998 and forwarded to the winter nursery for generation advancement, inbred development, or hybrid formation. Further evaluation will occur in 1999.
• All hybrids and some breeding lines from the tests noted here were assessed at Ridgetown and Ottawa for resistance to Fusarium ear mold and mycotoxin contamination. These single year data have been provided to participating seed companies, and will be augmented with further assessment in 1999.
• Corn quality assessment procedures were established at the ECORC Grain Quality Laboratory, and a large number of samples of food grade corn from various sources of 1997 production have been evaluated. Samples from 1998 commercial field production, food grade hybrid performance tests, and breeding materials are undergoing evaluation for food grade characteristics.

Grain Drying Storage Project
Objectives for this portion of the project were as follows:

• Initiate research on computerized, user-friendly grain dryer control systems (suitable for both on-farm and large commercial dryers) to optimize dryer throughput, minimize energy consumption and maximize grain quality preservation.
• Investigate reduction of energy use in grain drying through conservation and/or recovery of heat energy.
• Develop ‘damp’ grain storage technology (i.e. 18-23 per cent moisture) and produce guidelines for aeration and safe storage of damp grain (without fermentation), to supply wet-milling and ethanol processors.

Significant accomplishments achieved through 1997/98 include:

• Controlled laboratory experiments in 1997 and early 1998 showed that damp (i.e., 20-23 per cent moisture) corn can be safely stored for five months, provided the grain is maintained below 5 degrees C. On-farm trials initiated in the fall of 1998 confirmed that damp grain corn can be safely stored for several months in aerated grain bins which are managed to preserve cold storage conditions (0-5 degrees C).
• In laboratory studies, storage temperatures above 10 degrees C resulted in extensive mould growth, and may contribute to increased levels of mycotoxins normally associated with field fungi.
• Thin-layer corn drying trials were conducted to assess the effect of initial grain moisture content, drying rate (humidity, air flow rate) and temperature on stress cracking and breakage, and to develop computerized dryer control systems to minimize quality loss and maximize efficiency of dry operations.
• Insulation of in-bin dryers reduced or eliminated condensation on bin walls, and resultant grain spoilage. However, the cost of the insulation was only justified where the quality of the stored grain was at risk.

Growing industry interest in the food grade corn/grain drying and storage project has resulted in significantly increased financial support for the continuation of the project, with matching funding anticipated from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Rural Jobs Strategy Fund. Primary objectives for the next phase of the project are to:

• Continue germplasm evaluation and integrate useful yellow and white food grade corn traits into Guelph and Ottawa breeding material, for use by private corn breeders serving the Ontario market.
• Continue evaluating the agronomic performance and food-grade quality of commercial Ontario corn hybrids, and continue participating in the cooperative Early Maturity White Food Grade Corn Performance test.
• Evaluate food grade hybrids and breeding lines for resistance to Fusarium ear mold and related mycotoxins, and incorporate Fusarium resistance into food grade corn lines through the Guelph and Ottawa corn breeding programs.
• Determine the critical factors affecting Kernel Red Streak, and implement breeding and selection strategies to overcome this challenge.
• Further refine the laboratory assessment of food corn quality traits, for use in evaluating commercial hybrids and breeding lines for their usefulness to the Ontario food corn sector.
• Further refine management recommendations to promote implementation of the ‘damp corn’ storage system to extend the season of supply of high quality, damp corn to Casco, thereby improving its processing efficiency and reducing farm production costs.
• Complete development of the computerized grain monitoring and dryer control systems to the point where they are sufficiently cost effective and user friendly for widespread adoption on Ontario farms and commercial drying facilities.
• Extend to growers and the agricultural sector recommendations on thermal insulation for deep-bin dryer/storage facilities to improve grain quality.

OCPA recognizes the superb overall team leadership provided by Dr. Art Schaafsma, Ridgetown College, and the excellent contributions from Drs. Ralph Brown and Liz Lee, University of Guelph, and Drs. Judith Frégeau-Reid and Lana Reid, ECORC, Ottawa. As well, we gratefully acknowledge the financial support from all project partners for Phase I (just completed), including: the OMAFRA Grow Ontario program, Pioneer Hi-Bred, Cargill Limited, Novartis Seeds, King Milling, University of Guelph Plant Research Program (funding and in-kind), Ontario Research Enhancement Program, Casco (in-kind), Union Gas (in-kind) and several individual on-farm cooperators (in-kind). OCPA was a partner in this research effort as well.

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